Why should you use an IV Calculator for Pokémon GO?

Players looking to catch the best and most potent Pokemon will find an IV calculator to be of immense use.

All Pokemon of a particular species are not equally powerful – you may have caught a Pikachu that is not as strong as it can be. What causes this difference is an IV or Individual Value. We will get into details about IV in a bit.

The higher the IV, the stronger the Pokemon. But IVs are not explicitly mentioned in the game. So you need to use an independent tool (on a website or download a dedicated app) to know the IVs of the Pokemon you have caught or hatched in the game.

IV Calculators or IV Checkers?

A word of caution – not all tools that reveal a Pokemon’s IVs are legal. Some violate the terms of service of Pokémon GO, and you do not want to be using those. Steer clear of IV checkers and select one of the five IV calculators we have recommended in this guide.

You may be wondering how checkers are different from calculators.

IV Checkers, more often than not, ping the game servers to extract accurate numbers for your Pokemon’s IVs. You may be required to key in your Pokémon GO login credentials while using a checker. As a result, IV Checkers are not the safest tools to use.

On the contrary, IV Calculators rely on game information to make an educated guess about the IVs of your Pokemon. Also, they will never ask you to share your game login details. Although the majority of IV calculators are safe to use, you may not find some on the Play Store.

All about IVs

Now that we have explained why you should be using an IV calculator, let’s dive into the basics and explain what IVs are.

Like other Pokemon titles, each Pokemon you catch or hatch in Pokémon GO has a set of primary stats. In the game, you will find three stats for each Pokemon – Defense, Attack, and Stamina (HP). But if you have duplicate Pokemon (like two Squirtles or Charizards), you may notice that their stats are not the same.

Each Pokemon has an individual value that gets added to the base stats. These IVs are randomly generated and can range anywhere from 0 to 15. So, if you caught a Pokemon with zero IVs, you know that there can be a duplicate Pokemon out there that has each of the three stats higher by 15.

The strongest Pokemon (with max IVs) is usually 7 to 10% stronger than its weakest duplicate (with zero IVs). So, two max-level Pokemon may not be equally powerful, thanks to different IVs. A level 40 Lapras may have Combat Power (CP) between 2,229 and 2,603. CP is a combination of the three base stats.

IVs may seem insignificant to some players, while others may be looking to catch the absolute best Pokemon they can find. Moreover, IVs remain constant through a Pokemon’s evolution so you should try to find a max IV species and evolve it (transfer the other duplicates of that species with lower IVs).

Just like us, not all Pokemon are born equal. These hidden IV values cannot be changed and make each Pokemon unique!

5 Best IV Calculators

You need not worry about getting banned from the game; each of these recommendations is 100% legal and safe to use. The first three recommendations are apps, and the last two are websites.

Without further ado, here are the five best IV calculators we have chosen for you.

1. GoIV

GoIV is an open-source, free app that was developed by Pokemon community members. It allows you to quickly get IV values for your Pokemon in the Pokémon GO game world. You can also use this app to predict how strong a particular Pokemon will get after power-ups or evolution.

We especially liked the fact that it does not contain any ads because that can be annoying. There have been a few bugs in the past, and the only data this app will collect from your mobile is anonymized crash data for fixing those bugs.

It packs some other exciting features like creating custom names for your Pokemon, scanning and exporting Pokemon to PokeBattler, and more. You will most likely not find a more straightforward app for IV calculations. Moreover, its IV calculations are reasonably accurate.

You will be prompted to input your team and trainer level and run a one-time calibration on any low-level Pokemon (like Charmander or Pidgey). Also, you need to grant permissions to the app for storage, screen recording, and overlay.

2. Calcy IV

With over one million downloads, Calcy IV is one of the most widely used IV calculator apps available on the Play Store. With this app, you can determine the IV values of Pokemon even before you catch them. That can help a lot when looking for stronger duplicates of Pokemon you have already found.

It does not require any login details of the game and does not interact with any other app on your mobile. IV determination is based on your current Pokemon’s level, HP, CP, and some other metrics. We especially liked this app because it supports almost all languages (except Traditional Chinese).

What sets Calcy IV apart from the majority of its peers are its additional features – it is more than just an IV calculator! You can use it to calculate the performance and DPS of attacks. It can automatically read your team leader’s appraisal and refine the IV range accordingly.

We especially liked its raid simulator, which tells you the best team of existing Pokemon for every raid boss and the odds of beating them. No wonder it has a 4.6-star rating based on over 78,000 reviews!

3. Poke Genie

Poke Genie is one of the most popular IV calculator apps available on the Play Store. It has more than 5 million downloads and has an impressive rating of 4.7 out of 5, based on over 288,000 reviews. You can rest assured that this app will not disappoint when it comes to IV calculations for Pokémon GO!

What sets this app apart from its competition is its ease-of-use. With an overlay feature, you will never have to exit the game to check the IV values of your Pokemon. We especially liked how this app automatically detects and fills in the team leader’s appraisal comments.

All you need to do is enter your current team and trainer level on the main page of Poke Genie, and activate the screen overlay by pressing the “Start” button. In the game interface, go to Pokemon details and tap the floating button of Poke Genie to get the job done. Isn’t that simple?

If you are using a device that does not support screen overlay, don’t get disheartened. Poke Genie offers a screenshot mode that shows IV results based on a screenshot of the Pokemon details.

4. The Silph Road IV Calculator

The Silph Road is perhaps the most popular website among Pokémon GO players and enthusiasts. To call it only an IV calculator would be incorrect as it has a plethora of content for Pokemon fans. A full-fledged Pokedex, news, and information about tasks, raids, social groups, and eggs make most of the content on this website.

Its IV calculator is relatively basic and can give you a quick, rough estimate of your Pokemon’s IV value. The calculator relies on information like your current trainer level and your Pokemon’s current CP and HP to get an approximate IV value.

It does not give you the most precise and accurate numbers. You should install one of our recommended apps if you want to know the exact IVs of your Pokemon.

5. GamePress IV Calculator

The final recommendation we have for you is the GamePress IV Calculator. It is a manual calculator, in the sense that you will have to enter all the data manually for it to come up with an IV range. Again, it does not give you exact IV values.

There is quite a lot of information for you to enter here – HP, CP, stardust to next level, hatched or lucky, and so on. Although it is a bit tedious, you can get a reasonably accurate range of IV values for your Pokemon using this website. You might want to check out some other features and calculators offered on this website.

Summing It Up

With the most recent update rolled out by Niantic for Pokémon GO, it has become much more comfortable for players to see the IVs of their Pokemon within the game. Three progress bars have been included to indicate the IV levels for Attack, Stamina, and Defense. If a Pokemon has max IVs, its stamp turns red.

But this update is only available for Android users right now. So if you own an iOS device, you will have to rely on one of our recommended IV calculators for the time being.